The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku
Abubakar, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign for
admitting on Friday that the nation’s economy was in bad shape.
Buhari reportedly made the confession during his meeting with the 36 governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday.
In
a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Mr
Phrank Shaibu, on Sunday, Atiku said the President’s confession that
the economy was in bad shape was not only a ploy to attract the
sympathy of Nigerians but also aimed at getting a soft landing.
He
said, “The result, of course, is his confession of failure on the eve
of our general elections in the hope that millions of Nigerians, whom he
has condemned to poverty and hardship, will give him a clap for failing
abysmally.
“I dare say that President Buhari has miscalculated badly on this matter because Nigerians are simply fed up with him.
“The
economy has collapsed under his watch and he has by this frank remark
admitted that he has no idea on how to fix it and that is why he
summoned the governors to help him.
“This is really very sad
because President Buhari has run out of time and what Nigerians need now
is leadership which has the political will, administrative experience
and sound economic acumen to get Nigeria working again.”
The
former Vice-President expressed his disappointment that Buhari had
continued to blame the PDP for the country’s bad economy, saying the
President had reportedly confirmed that he was incapable of fixing
the economy.
Atiku said Buhari should step down from his position since the economy was in bad shape.
He
said Buhari’s admission had confirmed the British multinational bank
HSBC’s prediction that re-electing him in 2019 could plunge Nigeria
into a deeper economic hardship.
Atiku said, “Unless those in
charge of the APC and the party’s supporters are, as usual, suffering
from some form of self-delusion, it just does not make any sense for
them to say that the All Progressives Congress’ Federal Government has
brought succour to ordinary Nigerians when President Buhari himself has
admitted to the governors that the economy has gone beyond his control.
“Or
do we need a prophet to tell us that the President’s admission is a
vindication of our long-held position, and indeed the forecast by HSBC
recently cited by the Nigerian media where the bank said a second term
for Buhari would greatly affect the economy of the country?”
He
added, “The exchange rate of the naira to the US dollar when the APC
assumed office in 2015 was about N170 (official rate) to $1. Today it is
N360 to $1. Today millions of Nigerians, most of them youths, are
unemployed, forcing them to become professional beggars who wait for the
FG’s monthly N5,000 handout and N10,000 Tradermoni aimed at bribing
them to re-elect the party in the forthcoming elections.
“Power
generation has actually dipped from 4,949 megawatts, which the PDP left
in 2015 to less than 3,500 megawatts even though Buhari’s managers
consistently claim that 7,000 megawatts are what the country is
currently generating. What more evidence do we need to know that the APC
has been a curse rather than a blessing to our country?”
Atiku lamented that the President had failed to apply new methods in addressing the challenges facing the country.
He said, “Our President is still living in the Paleolithic age of blame game and buck-passing as responsible for his failures.
“What
this simply means is that President Buhari was not really prepared for
governance and did not even understand the simplest intricacies of
running a national economy as big as Nigeria.
“This is really
tragic and it is obvious that President Buhari has come to the end of
the road and has completely given up on the next steps to advance
Nigeria, while those who his dear wife openly declared misled his
administration into this economic quagmire are still drumming up support
for his next level of more hardship, suffering, unprovoked deaths as a
result of mis-governance.”
He said the President was tired and
should therefore be asked to return “to his much cherished sedentary,
pastoral and rustic lifestyle in his country home in Daura and then
leave the rigours and highly strategic art of governance to those who
know how to govern and get the economy working again.”
But the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, said he would not comment on the issue.
He referred The PUNCH to spokesman for the APC, Lanre Issa-Onilu.
Adesina said, “I don’t respond to PDP issues. Whenever it is the PDP, talk to the APC. Journalists should know this.”
When
reminded that the question was on Atiku’s call for Buhari to resign
for admitting that the economy was in bad shape, Adesina said he would
not talk.
When one of our correspondents got across to
Issa-Onilu, he also directed him (the correspondent) to spokesman for
the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Mr. Festus Keyamo
(SAN).
However , calls made to the telephone of Keyamo were not answered.
He also did not respond to a text message sent to him as of the time of filing this report.
Source:- Punchng
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